


Priorities

by MurderouslyAdorkable



Series: Swan Queen Week Summer 2015 [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4341128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurderouslyAdorkable/pseuds/MurderouslyAdorkable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in an ambiguous point in Season Five where Emma isn’t the Dark One anymore. Emma fought for Regina. She gave into the Darkness to save her. But perhaps there’s one person she neglected in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Swan Queen Week Summer 2015, Day Two: Jealousy. I had intended to do some big Captain Swan vs. Outlaw Queen thing but that’s not what happened. It’s not even a story about how they’re jealous of their relationship but of how Henry is jealous that Emma can drop everything for Regina but not for him. Oh, so apparently this is a continuation of the first fict for Swan Queen Week. That wasn’t done on purpose either.

Where Emma dreamed of past evils, Regina dreamed of the day everything changed. The Savior’s sacrifice had touched her. No one, not even her own father would have been willing to do that. She didn’t know how to thank her, how to repay her. What Emma had done she had done for Regina, and Regina alone, and the former Evil Queen wasn’t sure if there was something she could do to repay her. And perhaps that was why she still had dreams about the night Emma became the Darkness.

Regina could recall the sound of the dagger clanging on asphalt, the looks of stunned faces. No one had said a word. No one needed to. Everyone standing there that night had silently resolved themselves to rescuing Emma and banishing the Darkness. It was least any of them could do for the person that gave up everything for them.

So for months, Regina would dream about that night. And every night she’d save Emma from the Darkness. She’d do something differently. See the whole thing from a different angle. And suddenly she could get to Emma before she got too lost in the dark. Every night. A million different way, a million different times, Regina saved Emma Swan.

It made this nightmare business almost impossible to bear. How could she help? Was it even possible? Would Emma even let her? She wasn’t forthcoming about her dreams, so why would she accept any help? Emma Swan did have a bad habit of being painfully obstinate at times. A trait that Emma and Regina shared, though to get the former queen to admit it would be a different matter entirely.

Still, she committed to being here for Emma in whatever way she would let her. It was the least she could do.

When Emma began to thrash around, Regina wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, whispering gentle words as Emma fought whatever demons that continued to haunt her in her sleep. Eventually the tremors stopped but Regina didn’t move away. The gesture in some small way had helped. And it seemed like the right thing to do. It felt right.

“You are a good person, Emma…” Regina whispered to her sleeping bedmate before she drifted off herself.

The next morning she expected awkwardness, but was surprised that Emma wasn’t even in bed. Regina didn’t figure the Sheriff for being an early riser. And even if she was, no one got up earlier than Regina. 

Not that it was a competition.

After a quick and quiet search, Regina didn’t find Emma anywhere in the house. Just a note on Regina’s coffee marker with what smelled like a freshly brewed pot.

“ _I figured I at least owed you a cup of coffee,_ ” the note read. “ _P.S. Thanks for being there when I got up._ ”

Regina discarded the note with a smile before making herself a cup of coffee. In a world without magic, a hot cup of coffee was closest thing they had to pixie dust. One cup could preform miracles. Regina couldn’t have found the energy to run Storybrooke and raise Henry as a single mother without it.

“Mom!”

_Speak of the devil…_

“No running in the house,” she called to Henry once she heard him clomping down the stairs. He had Emma’s natural grace that much was certain. But Swan Prince or not, Henry knew the rules.

“Sorry,” he said, coming around the corner into the kitchen. “I just thought I heard… um… mom this morning.”

Regina nodded. “Yes, she stayed over.”

Henry eyed his feet for a moment and then sighed. “Is she… How is she?”

“Emma needs some more time, Henry.”

“I know…” He considering his words. “I just miss her.”

Regina took a deep breath and considered her words. “Henry, you have to understand–”

His face reddened and he clenched his fist. “I’m sick of everyone telling me I need to understand, mom! I do. I do understand. My mom used to be the Dark One. My other mom was the Evil Queen. I understand.”

Regina’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Henry…”

“What I don’t understand is why she only makes time for _**you**_ … She avoids everyone else. But if it’s you she drops _**everything**_ …” His lips began to quiver and Regina could see his eyes welling with tears. “She left me again, mom. And she did it for _**you**_. And just don’t get why.”

She tried to console Henry but he pulled away from her and continued on. “I could have saved her. If I hadn’t snapped the pen in half. I could’ve rewritten the story.” Before Regina could scold him he nodded. “I know. It would have made me like Issac. And Issac was evil. And I don’t want to be evil…” His voice got quiet. “And then I think, what if I became a villain? Would she fight for me as hard as she fights for you?”

Regina didn’t know what to say, other than that Emma loved him. She’d do anything for him. But Henry just stressed that Emma chose to become the Dark One, to leave him… again. And then he was gone, trudging back up to his room and slamming the door.

The interaction left Regina with a lot to contemplate. Namely, how she hadn’t even had one cup of coffee yet. But also that Henry would always need them both, and that Emma would always hold a special place in his heart. Four years ago that thought that would have driven Regina crazy. It would have been a constant reminded that despite everything she did for him, Emma and Henry shared something that she would never have.

She took a sip from her mug and retrieved her phone from the stand near the front door. Emma’s number was on her speed dial.

It only rang once before Emma’s voice came through .

“Hey, sorry I cut out early. I wanted to get my car and–”

“I understand but…”

“Is everything okay?”

“Henry…”

“Is Henry okay?”

“Henry’s fine…” Regina sighed. “That’s not true. He’s not fine. He asked about you. He always asks about you.”

“You sound jealous, Regina.” Emma was deflecting.

But Regina wouldn’t let his go. “I’m not jealous. He is… Of me…” She let that sink in for a moment before she pressed on. “Our son seems to think you prioritize my happiness over his… Emma, I don’t want that.”

She could hear Emma take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I know, Regina. I just don’t know if…”

“Emma, he thinks you abandon him again,” she told the former savior. “I don’t want him to lose faith in you.”

There was a long pause before Emma asked, “What am I supposed to do?”

“Just be with him,” Regina replied. “Let him know why you did it.”

“What if I don’t really know why?” Emma sounded so vulnerable then. Regina knew whatever she said next would have a lasting effect.

She had to choose her words carefully. “I know why. You sacrificed yourself to save this town, these people, your family, and our son. The Darkness would have consumed everything and everyone. You stopped that from happening. You saved him. You love him. He needs to hear that from you.”

There was a long pause before Emma added, “That’s true. But…”

“Miss Swan if you’re about to tell me you’re not coming over…”

“Whoa, Regina,” Emma said, quickly. “That’s not what I’m trying to say. I’ll be there in a minute. But what I was saying… What I’m trying to say is that Regina… I did what I did to save everyone, yeah. But even it wasn’t… Even if the Darkness was only threatening you… I would have made the same choice, Regina.”

Before she could reply, Emma had hung up. Hopefully, she was on her way here because Henry needed her. And Regina…. well she had a lot to think about.

But first…

“I think a refill is in order,” the former queen said to no one but herself.

A tentative knock at the front door herald Emma’s arrival and Regina greeted her at the door.

“Miss Swan,” Regina said with a nod.

Emma tried to offer a smile but it was awkward, like she didn’t know quite what to do with herself. “Regina.”

“Henry hasn’t come out of his room,” Regina told her. “And he refuses to speak to me.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Emma replied and was gone.

Waiting for her report was probably the worst part. All of the magic in the world, and Regina was clueless when it came to dealing with a teenager with a story like Henry’s. He was the most important thing in Regina’s life but there were times even she thought he was put on the back burner. And now Henry didn’t feel like a priority anymore. It broke her heart.

“Well?” Regina asked as soon as she heard Emma’s boots thundering down the steps.

“Um… well, we talked…”

“Yes, I gathered that, Miss Swan.” Regina tried not to snap. But her mother bear instincts always went into overdrive when it came to their son. “How is he?”

“He’s pissed.” Emma quickly amended. “He’s not mad at you. It’s all me, Regina.”

“The things he said…”

This time Emma dismissed her words with a wave of her hand. “Just him being a teenager. He thinks that I care more about you than him. I can tell that’s not true. But that’s all I can do.”

Regina frowned. “No, it isn’t.” When Emma shot her a confused look it took everything not to turn this into a fight. “You can _**show**_ him.”

“Regina…”

“No, how many times did you feel abandoned as a child? Alone? Scared? Henry almost lost another parent. How do you think he feels when you can’t even be in the same room as him?”

Emma’s face reddened not because she was embarrassed but because she was getting angry. “It’s not just him. It’s everyone.”

“Henry should be the exception to that,” Regina shot back.

“Regina, I’m trying…”

“Not hard enough..”

Emma groaned in frustration. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to be a mother to our son.”

“I’m trying!”

Regina’s response was cold. “You’ve said that.”

“Regina…” Emma’s tone was warning.

“No, Miss Swan. You need to understand that the moment he was placed into my arms my whole life has been about him,” Regina told her.

Emma scoffed. “Really? Like chasing the Author around last year was really something you were doing for Henry? You did that so you can have _**Robin**_.”

_When did this become about Robin?_

“Like you are any better with your _**pirate**_.”

“Don’t make this about Hook.”

Regina’s eyes narrowed. “Then don’t make this about Robin. It’s about Henry. And your complete disregard for our son’s well-being.”

“Really? Really, Regina?” Emma fired back. “From the moment I found out I was pregnant, every choice I made has to make sure he had it better than I did. Everything, Regina. I don’t do anything without thinking about how it’ll effect him.”

“Really? Because Henry is upstairs right now wondering why his mother doesn’t make room for him in her life. He’s 13. He’s not going to understand why you need space. Not when he needs you,” Regina just wanted Emma to see. All of this needed to be about Henry. “I wish you could see that.”

“And I wish you could understand that when I was his age…” Emma sighed. “You know what it’s not important… Call me if the kid needs me again.”

Regina wasn’t about to let Emma leave like this but when she reached for her something strange happened. It started out as a small spark and at first Regina thought it was Emma’s light magic. But it was more than that. The spark turned to vapors and sound they were engulfed in a blue smoke. And then it was gone. However, there was something different. They weren’t standing in Regina’s house anymore but in the middle of a bus depot in sprawling metropolis

As they looked around it was Emma that noticed a large movie poster for Scary Movie. The first one.

“You have **_got_** to be kidding me.”

Regina frowned. “What? Where are we?”

Emma shook her head. “Not where. _**When**_.” She nodded to one of the buses pulling up. As the passengers began to exit, Regina noticed a small blond with green eyes and pale skin.

“Is that?”

Emma nodded. “Meet Emma Swan, the young runaway, circa 2000.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to follow us we're fuzzycheeseproductions on tumblr.


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